A Happy and Healthy New Year to People and PETS

As the New Year begins, we have new resolutions to make. A common resolution is to be healthier. One way we all know to become healthier is to change our diet and exercise. However, our pets don’t know it’s resolution time. It’s time for us to help our furrier family members get healthy! We should make resolutions to our pet’s health. This means, less treats and more exercise.

As with people, good health in pets can lead to extended life. The Ohio Veterinary Association believes that 40 percent of our nations’ pets are overweight but most of the pet owners don’t think their pet needs to loose weight. The risks of obesity for pets including arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and a higher risk for cancers.

Simple changes to diet and lifestyle can help ward off these risks for our pet. You can talk with your vet to help you come up with a health program and then have the whole family get involved. The association suggests that pet owners can take these steps in improving the health of pets:

Feed measured amounts of food.

Eliminate table scraps and high-calorie treats.

Increase walks and playtime.

This is the time of year to start new trends, let 2010 be a health trend for you and your pets! Happy New Year from all of us at CARE!